Motivation
A need or desire that energizes and directs behavior toward a goal.
Historical Explanations:
Instinct
A complex, inherited, behavior that is rigidly patterned throughout a species.
William James listed 37 instincts.
Difficulty using instincts to both label and explain behaviors
Drives
Aroused tension states created by imbalances
Prompt an organism to restore the balance, typically reducing the drive
Part of drive-reduction theory
Drive-Reduction Theory
The idea that a physiological need creates a state of tension state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy the need.
Eating and drinking are examples of drive-reducing behaviors.
Biological Explanations: Arousal Theories
Arousal
Levels of alertness and responsiveness
Yerkes-Dodson Law
The theory that a degree of psychological arousal helps performance, but only to a point.
Optimum level of arousal depends on the difficulty of the task.
Each person has an optimum level of stimulation they like to maintain.
Biological Explanations: Homeostasis
A tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal state.
The regulation of any aspect of body chemistry, such as blood glucose, around a particular level
Any change in levels, up or down, results in being motivated to bring the level back to normal.
Cognitive Explanations
Extrinsic Motivation
A desire to perform a behavior because of promised rewards or threats of punishment.
Intrinsic Motivation
A desire to perform a behavior for its own sake and to be effective.
Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)
Humanistic psychologist who proposed the hierarchy of needs, with self-actualization as one of the ultimate psychological needs.
Hierarchy of Needs
-Maslow’s pyramid of human needs, beginning at the base with physiological needs that must be satisfied before higher-level safety needs and then physiological needs become active.
-Continually higher-level needs won’t become active until lower-level needs have been satisfied.
-Self-Actualization
--According to Maslow, an ultimate psychological need that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved; the motivation to realize our full and unique potential.
A need or desire that energizes and directs behavior toward a goal.
Historical Explanations:
Instinct
A complex, inherited, behavior that is rigidly patterned throughout a species.
William James listed 37 instincts.
Difficulty using instincts to both label and explain behaviors
Drives
Aroused tension states created by imbalances
Prompt an organism to restore the balance, typically reducing the drive
Part of drive-reduction theory
Drive-Reduction Theory
The idea that a physiological need creates a state of tension state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy the need.
Eating and drinking are examples of drive-reducing behaviors.
Biological Explanations: Arousal Theories
Arousal
Levels of alertness and responsiveness
Yerkes-Dodson Law
The theory that a degree of psychological arousal helps performance, but only to a point.
Optimum level of arousal depends on the difficulty of the task.
Each person has an optimum level of stimulation they like to maintain.
Biological Explanations: Homeostasis
A tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal state.
The regulation of any aspect of body chemistry, such as blood glucose, around a particular level
Any change in levels, up or down, results in being motivated to bring the level back to normal.
Cognitive Explanations
Extrinsic Motivation
A desire to perform a behavior because of promised rewards or threats of punishment.
Intrinsic Motivation
A desire to perform a behavior for its own sake and to be effective.
Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)
Humanistic psychologist who proposed the hierarchy of needs, with self-actualization as one of the ultimate psychological needs.
Hierarchy of Needs
-Maslow’s pyramid of human needs, beginning at the base with physiological needs that must be satisfied before higher-level safety needs and then physiological needs become active.
-Continually higher-level needs won’t become active until lower-level needs have been satisfied.
-Self-Actualization
--According to Maslow, an ultimate psychological need that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved; the motivation to realize our full and unique potential.